


It's 5AM, and I'm Awake

by fallowtail



Series: Self Indulgent Pet Natasha [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Animal Play, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Master/Pet, Nobody else was writing pet Natasha, Petplay, Sub Clint Barton, Sub Natasha Romanov, Sub!Natasha, be the change you want to see in the world, so I am going to do it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 13:45:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14619852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallowtail/pseuds/fallowtail
Summary: Maria really hadn’t been expecting this to be what Natasha had wanted to talk about when her girlfriend texted her at 5AM on a Monday.





	It's 5AM, and I'm Awake

**Author's Note:**

> For context beforehand: Maria and Natasha have been a couple for about a year, maybe two, and this takes place slightly before Iron Man 2.  
> Clint and Laura are married, but at the moment they only have Cooper, who is toddler-aged (and does not appear).  
> Clint and Laura are both Natasha's "person", and their relationship with her is very important, but it's not romantic or sexual.  
> Title is from Follow You by Cheat Codes.

She knew Maria was coming. She  _knew_. She had  _asked_  Maria to come, she knew Maria knew what was going to be happening, and she knew Maria wanted to try it, and she knew this was going to be happening today,  _right now_.

And yet still, she froze, because standing there in the living room doorway next to Laura, looking just as stiff as Natasha felt, was Maria god damn Hill, and as she was pulled out of her headspace Natasha thought, not for the first time, that maybe giving in and listening to Clint about this had been stupid as hell.

***

“Look, you know Laura and I love playing with you,” Clint had said, grabbing a french fry and waving it around in small circles, “and so does Lucky, of course, but don’t you think maybe it’s time to let her in on all of this? You know she wouldn’t care, you guys are-”

Natasha cut him off by plucking the fry out of his hand, scowling at him as she popped it into her mouth. He pouted at her, reaching for more.

“Okay, yeah, I get it,” he sighed, propping his chin up on a hand. “But, Nat, I really do think she might be more upset about you not telling her than she would be about the…concept in general,” he said, raising his eyebrows at her, and Natasha scowled again, twisting the straw in her drink around and trying not to look as pouty as she felt. She knew he was right, but that just kind of made it all the more infuriating. When Clint was right she never heard the end of it. When she looked up at him again, though, he was giving her a soft and concerned look, and she sighed, slumping her shoulders and letting the irritation bleed away.

God she hated it when he was right.

“I know, I just..I don’t want to mess this up, Clint.  _God_ , I really don’t.”

“You won’t,” he said, reaching his hands across the table and putting them on hers around her cup, and oh god she really wished he had waited until she took her hands off of the drink because now they were getting all cold and wet from condensation and christ, Clint, way to kinda ruin the moment.

“Look, she- you know she’s not like that. Even if she’s not down with it herself, you know she’d never judge you for it to try and stop what we do, y’know?” He rolled his eyes a little bit at her fondly. “Besides, this is far from the worst and weirdest thing Maria’s been cool with about you.”

“I know, I just-” Natasha sighed, throwing her head back a bit in defeat. “I might. Need some help with it? From you guys.”

“I’ll have to talk to Laur about it, but you know the answers going to be yes,” Clint assured her, grinning and pulling his hands back to shove more fries into his face, clearly content with her answer. “It might be easier on her too anyway, if you guys don’t go solo for your first meeting if she agrees to it.”

“ _If_ ,” Natasha stressed, but a small sense of calm had settled on her after the conversation. Maybe it really wouldn’t be so bad.

***

Maria  _really_  hadn’t been expecting this to be what Natasha had wanted to talk about when her girlfriend texted her at 5AM on a Monday.

The following conversation over takeout on Maria’s couch had been a little awkward, mostly because she was unfamiliar with the subject (and knowing Natasha had a special relationship with Clint and Laura was one thing, but hearing Natasha talk _in detail_  about naked, kinky roleplay she did with them was another, even if Natasha made sure to stress she wasn’t involved in the sexual aspect of it with either of them), but after agreeing to give it a try and seeing the flash of relief and apprehension on Natasha’s face (that Maria knew Natasha was letting her see, that’s how important this was to her--) Maria had dove into research, spending the nights leading up to the… _playdate_ …on her laptop trying to learn everything she could about this.

And what she had found wasn’t…entirely disinteresting, if she was honest with herself, and she had definitely closed her computer more than once to try and calm down the burning she felt in her face. Ok, yeah, she was interested. Hopefully. Looking at pictures and stories online was a lot different than actually experiencing it, which was how she now found herself on the porch of the farmhouse in Iowa, sitting on the swing next to Laura Barton as she gave her yet another rundown of what exactly was going to be happening, sounding much, much more relaxed than Maria was.

“So Lucky- that’s Clint, remember- he’s very friendly, and while I’ve told him not to rush at you, he’s not the best listener, especially once he goes down, so be prepared for that,” she said, giving Maria a fond smile. “And while they’re usually naked for this, they won’t be this time, since it’s your first, and we don’t know your comfort levels just yet, so Natasha thought it would be inappropriate,” she added. “Clint will probably be all over you, he loves people, but I’m not entirely sure how Natasha is going to respond, and I don’t think she is either.”

“I…right,” Maria responded, rubbing one thumb against the other in her lap nervously, feeling more aware than ever just how close Natasha was to Clint’s wife, something she tended to forget since she was never really around her.

“And if, at any point, you get too uncomfortable and you want to end the scene, you safe word out, got it?” Laura had turned to face her more full on now, a stern look on her face. “That’s very, very important. None of us want this to be uncomfortable for you, Maria. Or, if you need to take a break, but don’t want to end the scene, you can get up and leave the room and we’ll either let you take a breather, or you can ask me to come with you to explain something you might be curious about. Or they might safe word out if things become to much for either of them, too.” Maria swallowed thickly, and nodded.

Laura reached over and cupped Maria’s hands in hers, giving them a comforting pat.

“It’s…hard for her,” Laura said, “letting her guard down like this. But it’s also very important. It does something for her that just…” she paused, looking unsure if she should continue on that tangent, and Maria waited patiently as she gathered her thoughts together. “You should really know how important it is to Natasha that you’re willing to give this a try,” she settled on, eyes crinkling a bit. “I don’t know if she told you, or if you know, but even if it doesn’t work out, the fact you tried will mean a lot to her.”

“I- of course,” Maria said finally, “of course I’ll try. I might not totally understand it just yet, but, well…this is…it’s a part of her, and if she needs this, I want to do it for her, and just…” she shrugged, trailing off, not really knowing how to explain what she wanted to say. Laura nodded, though, as if she understood anyway, and stood up, brushing off of her pants before turning and heading towards the door.

She gave Maria one more cursory look to make sure she was ready before she opened the door, and the pair were immediately greeted with loud barking as Clint rounded the corner into the hallway on all fours, a pair of floppy ears attached to his head. Maria only had a second to take him in and think  _how the hell can he_ run _like that_ , before he was on her, shoving past Laura to jump up at the “stranger”, a delighted look on his face as he continued to bark at her excitedly, balled fists pressed lightly against Marias thighs.

“Lucky, hey,  _no!_  Down!” Laura turned around and looped a finger into his collar- his  _collar_ , Maria thought- to gently pry him off of her. “Guh, sorry, I knew he wasn’t going to listen,” she sighed, giving Lucky a stern look as she apologized to Maria. “We don’t jump on people, Lucky, I told you this!”

Clint just stared back up at her, panting and looking absolutely delighted to be there. Maria stared down at him, taking a moment to look him over and adjust to the sight of her friend like this. His face was framed by two brown, floppy, soft looking fabric ears attached to a headband, and he was wearing a tank top along with a pair of comfortable looking sweatpants that had a fluffy matching tail attached to them, which he was currently doing his best attempt to wag.

Laura was watching her closely, alert for any signs of discomfort, and Maria hesitated a second longer before giving a long, steady breath and cracking into a grin, bending down to ruffle at Clint’s hair.

“Hey Cl- Lucky, hey buddy,” she said as he shoved up into the affection, whining for more. Now that he was staying still, at least a little bit, Maria took notice of the sleek pads he was wearing on his knees and wrists, clearly to help protect them when he ran about the house. She spent a few more seconds affectionately patting him before she straightened up, feeling a bit more confident about the whole situation. She could do this.

“So, um, Nat- erm, Tasha?” she asked, toeing off her shoes and glancing at Laura as Clint moved over to sniff at them with great interest.

“She was in the living room, I think,” Laura hummed, bending down to shoo Clint away. He barked at them, wiggling again before bounding back towards the living room where he had come from, confirming Natasha was probably in there waiting for them. “She might be a little timid, but don’t take it personally,” Laura reminded her as they followed after Clint. “She’s nervous about this, and it took months for her to relax around me, and that was already after she had gotten used to doing this with Clint, but you’ll hopefully have better luck.”

Maria nodded, but some of that nauseous anxiety started twisting up again, her confidence fading just as quickly as it had come, and she clenched her fists to calm herself. What if Natasha hated her? What if, once she saw Maria in this situation, she decided it was a bad idea and called it off? What if she did it  _wrong_? What if- but then there was no more time for what ifs, because they were there, and Maria felt her breath catch in her throat and her cheeks catch on fire.

Her girlfriend was curled up on the couch, loosely batting at Clint’s face as he bounced around her on the floor, but the second Maria walked in Natasha honed in on her, hand freezing in place and her eyes widening with a more visual show of fear than Maria was ever used to seeing from her. Clint remained hopelessly oblivious to the situation, barking and nosing his face against Natasha, giving her a lick on the cheek before bounding back over to his owner and Maria, seemingly proud of having successfully lead the newcomer to meet his bff.

Maria had absolutely no idea what to do, despite how many times she had run the scenario over in her head- so she just stood there, pretty sure she looked just as stupid as she felt right now, almost wilting under Natasha’s nervous gaze.

Like Clint, she was dressed in a tank top and sweatpants that had a tail in a deep russet attached to it, with a matching pair of ears on her head, pointed and definitely cat-like to mirror Clint’s more dog-like appearance, with sleek pads on her hands and knees, but unlike Clint, she had no collar on. Instead, a collar that Maria reasonably assumed by its black and red color scheme was Natasha’s was draped over the arm of the couch.

The silence stretched out until Laura,  _bless her heart_ , Maria thought, decided to make the first move for them, clicking her tongue at Clint and heading over to the couch where Natasha was staring them down from. The woman made a tiny grumbling noise as Laura approached, breaking her staring at Maria to give Laura a once-over. Laura made a show of rolling her eyes, reaching down to ruffle Natasha’s hair, just like Maria had done to Clint.

Maria couldn’t help the surprise she felt watching Natasha let Laura do it, her girlfriend even leaning up into the touch a bit. Maria watched as Laura bent down to murmur something to Natasha, probably checking in with her. Nat shifted herself, nudging her nose against Lauras arm, which must have been a sign of consent, because Laura looked over at Maria and gestured for her to come over. She hesitated, but a nudge from Clint against her leg followed by a whine convinced her to move, and she slowly made her way over with him on her heels, keeping what Laura had said about Natasha’s nervousness in mind.

As she got closer, Natasha did slink back against the couch cushions again, her eyes getting a little squinty, and she even bared her teeth a little bit, but a gentle humming noise and a stroke down the back from Laura seemed to calm her enough. Maria crouched down when she reached the sofa so that she was level with Natasha, and Laura busied herself with adjusting Clint’s ears, trying to give them some semblance of privacy while also providing the comfort her other pet needed for this.

Maria held her hand out slowly, fingers parted but cupped slightly, offering it for Natasha to sniff, like she would with a real cat. There was a long stretch of silence as Natasha stared her down, giving her a long, searching, soulful look. She seemed to find whatever she was looking for after a few moments, and slowly, she extended her head, and audibly gave the other woman’s hand a sniff, and then another, and another, and before she even really seemed to know what she was doing she was nuzzling up against it, closing her eyes as a sense of contentment melted over her, the tension in her body almost oozing out along with it as she felt herself start to slip back under just a bit at just the simple touch.

Natasha felt Marias hand tremor a bit as she gave a heavy and sharp noise of relief, like she had almost been expecting Natasha to bite her hand off instead (Which was. Well. Fair.) and she heard Laura make a happy sound in the background to mirror Maria's. Natasha peeked an eye open to see her confused but awed expression, her mouth cracking into a tiny, pleased grin as she slowly shifted her thumb free, still wary of making sudden movements, to rub it against Natasha’s cheek.

“Hey, Tasha, hey girl,” Maria murmured, and  _god_  if that wasn’t enough to send a shiver down Natasha’s spine.

Okay, yeah, this is a little weird, Maria thinks to herself, but…a  _good_  weird. It feels good, and  _right_ , somehow, and Maria finds herself wanting to laugh because of how happy she is, and only holds back on doing so because she figures it would probably startle Natasha, and possibly be taken the wrong way.

“ _Wow_ ,” she hears Laura breathe, and Maria looks over at her. “She- that was a  _lot_  easier than I thought it was going to be, honestly,” she giggles, cupping a hand over her mouth and effectively ruining the mood. Maria grins in delight as Natasha twists her head to give Laura a  _pout_ , and it’s one of the  _cutest things she has ever seen_. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, you stinker, it’s a good thing,” she continues, wrinkling her nose playfully at her friend, making her pout even more, and Maria has a sudden and newfound appreciation for Laura Barton.

Natasha makes a low, indignant chuffing noise in the back of her throat, and sits up, the movement a lot less fluid and graceful than usual, but full of annoyed feline attitude as she makes a show of turning her head away from Laura, much to her amusement. Maria reaches out to pet at Natasha again, and her girlfriend leans into the touch once more, less hesitant than before, and god if Maria wouldn’t be content to just sit there and stroke at Natasha’s hair for hours- she loves doing it normally, but this roleplay is adding an extra something to it that she can’t quite explain. And now that it's going so much easier and better than she expected, well. It's hard not to want to indulge in it.

Clint, however, seems to have had enough of all this quiet and sitting around, and his patience finally runs out as he shoves himself in between Maria and Laura to headbutt Natasha’s arm, barking at her. Natasha makes a low, grumbly sound at being interrupted, batting at him gently, but she has a pleased look on her face as she bends around Maria and the two quickly resume whatever game they had been playing before Maria and Laura interrupted them.

“Would you like anything to eat, drink?” Laura asks, standing up and offering a hand to Maria. She takes it, hauling herself up and making more room for Clint and Natasha to play fight.

“Some coffee would be great,” Maria says, and Laura grins, gesturing for her to follow her into the kitchen. Maria hesitates, disappointed at having this cut off so soon, kind of wanting almost nothing more than to watch the pets play with each other. But she accepts the request for a small break for what it is, an allowance for her to get her head on straight, and turns and follows after her.

***

As the two women leave the room, Clint sits up, glancing at the door to make sure they really are gone before settling himself down on his haunches, giving Natasha a quizzical look that confirms for her that he really isn’t all the way down either, the situation kind of making it hard to do so.

She blinks at him, long and slow, thanking him nonverbally for encouraging the other two to leave so she can collect her thoughts a bit. This whole situation had not gone how she had thought it was going to, and while it was technically a _good_ thing, that her kittyself had taken an almost instant liking to Maria, instead of full out panicking, she definitely needed a few seconds to adjust to this change of pace...that was actually making her a lot more nervous than it should have been.

She slinks down off of the couch after a moment, taking a pause to stretch her back out before rubbing up against Clint's side, butting her head up under his chin affectionately. He grins, and wags his behind, making a quiet chuffing noise and nuzzling down into the touch, content to comfort and hold her as she sorts out whatever’s going on in her head.

When they finally pull away from each other, he gives her that patented smug Clinton Francis Barton look, puffing his chest out a bit, the stupid ears making him look absolutely ridiculous, and it takes all of her restraint not to smack at him.

God, Natasha hated when Clint was right.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry that the Maria/Nat content was a little limited/the ending got kinda rushed/Natasha kinda just..went into it easier than I was planning on her to. I wanted to focus a bit more on the situation than anything else, and I’m not even sure if this is something anyone but me has been uh, wanting, haha, so I tried to keep the main ship (blackhill) a bit limited for the moment to broaden the type of enjoyment people can get out if it to test the waters. Might write a second chapter for this if there's any interest in me continuing, since the ending and the actual petplay between Maria and Natasha is a little short, oops. If I do make another chapter we will see more of a dip into how Natasha's feeling about all this. If there is any interest, let me know what you want to see!
> 
> This is my first ever shot at writing, let alone fanfiction, so I apologize if it's a little rough! (ʘᗩʘ')  
> (I have no Beta reader, so if you see any mistakes please let me know!)


End file.
